Bitok opted for experience in his starting lineup with the likes of Jane Wacu, Evelyn Makuto and Mercy Moim getting slots.

“I think we played well apart from the third set where we struggled a bit on reception. I can say so far so good but we still have a lot of work to do. It is not only about Cameroon, there is also Senegal which is a good team,” observed Bitok.

Skipper Mercy Moim said although it was still at the preliminary stages, winning against Cameroon was crucial as they seek to defend the title.

“We are happy to have won against Cameroon, they have been a difficult side for us in the recent past. We knew exactly that they would opt for – diagonal balls and we were ready for that, we also suppressed their main attackers which worked very well for us,” said Moim.

Bitok also threw into the fray the junior players including the youthful Sharon Chepchumba as the game wore out.

“Integrating junior players in the team is very important as it builds the next generation and if you see right now, in our team, we have very promising players who will take over from us,” Moim said.

Kenya will take on Senegal on Monday with a win taking them to the semis and for Bitok it’s nothing short of a win.

“We cannot underrate Senegal because our aim is to finish as the winners in our pool so that we can be paired with the runners up team at the semis,” said Bitok.

Cameroon have now concluded their group stage matches having beaten Senegal 3-0 in their opening match on Thursday as Algeria, another Pool B team having pulled out of the tournament.